Volume 312 - 7th International Fermi Symposium (IFS2017) - Session Gravitational Wave Source GW 170817
Analysing the light curve and spectra of the first detected kilonova
A. Jerkstrand
Full text: pdf
Published on: 2017 December 12
Abstract
We report on the first clear detection of a kilonova; ejected radioactive debris from a neutron star merger. The transient AT2017gfo was detected 12h after GW170817 and associated short GRB170817A. It reached a peak UVOIR luminosity of $10^{42}$ erg/s on a time-scale of $\sim$1d. Modelling of the bolometric light curve suggests ejection of about 0.04 $M_\odot$ of ejecta at 0.2c. The ejecta has low opacity, indicating little lanthanide content. Spectroscopic modelling suggests identification of r-process elements Cs and Te. The combination of 2s delay between the GW and the GRB, a large ejecta mass, and low opacity all suggest dominance by a wind component and survival of a hypermassive neutron star for $t\sim 2$s.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.22323/1.312.0061
Open Access